


One Would Call It Fate

by Ezrudine



Series: Let Fate Take My Hand [1]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: AU, Children!Excorcists, Gen, OOC, Parental!Generals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-04-08 15:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4310754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezrudine/pseuds/Ezrudine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a Temple heir, the only thing Allen, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda had to take care of was the responsibilities of each Temple they were assigned to and their future participation in the Grand Council but everything changed when sweeps of demons appear, endangering the lives of the 4 Temple heirs. Now, the current members of the Grand Council, Marian Cross and his other colleagues have resorted to gathering and raising the 4 kids together in the Central Temple themselves to assess the situation. But what do a bunch of spell casting and battle frenzy people know about child care? Parental!Generals Children!Exorcists. AU OOC</p>
<p>Cross Posted from Fanfiction.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Their Departure

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting a Story here on AO3 <3
> 
> Please be kind to me-- 
> 
> Oh, and here are some details to take note of:
> 
> Allen Walker: 3 years old
> 
> Lenalee Lee: 4 years old
> 
> Lavi Bookman: 6 years old
> 
> Kanda Yuu: 7 years old
> 
> (These are their actual age gaps in the manga.)

_**North Temple's side** _

 

A flying golden object zoomed through the white halls of the temple, chased by a small boy, aged around 3 or so, wearing silk robes of black and silver that gleamed in the light. "Tim'ampy! 'et back 'ere!" the boy said with a childish voice. As the boy ran after the golden speck, he bumped into numerous people, in some occasions he was able to dodge them, and other times he just wasn't that lucky.

He turned a corner and this time bumped into a middle aged man who was off to worship in the prayer room, he continued running though, he really needed to get a hold of that thing, even if it meant his life.

"Hey kid, watch where you're going!" A burly voice called out to him.

The boy, who had white hair and a red daunting scar run down his left grey eye, glanced back and gave the man an apologetic look before he turned back to resume his chasing, " Sowy!"

He heard the man gave off a low grumble as he got up, "Kids these days. . ." Oh man, he hoped he wasn't in too much trouble, he was neck deep in the stuff as it is. He continued running and running, till he was almost out of breath. His little legs gave away and his body slumped on the floor out of fatigue. He looked around and found himself in the garden of the Temple. The Bermuda grass was littered with colorful flowers as tall trees of shade were grown all over the place. He was resting underneath one unknowingly. Multiple white marble statues were littered around the place, depicting images of Saints and Angels.

The little boy heaved a tired sigh, the temple was humongous. How was he going to find that little rascal in this place? He scratched his head in frustration; Reever was probably steaming with anger right now. He couldn't count the countless times he had made the Temple head furious, in most cases it wasn't even his fault! He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The boy leaned against the tree and pulled out a red apple from the pockets of his robes with his chubby little hands, might as well take a snack while waiting for your end at the hands of his angry Temple head. Speak of the Devil, just as he was about to take his first bite, Reever Wenham appeared in front of him, not as mad as he thought he would be though, probably around the word 'frustrated.' Yeah, let's go with that.

"Allen, this is no time to be taking a snack, you know we have a train to catch." Reever scolded the boy, his hands on his sides as he looked down at the child.

"But me can't find Tim anywhewe!" Allen retorted as he felt a tug in his hand, only to look to his side to find his apple was gone and was currently being devoured upon the thing that he was looking for the past few hours. "Tim!" He reached out and grabbed the flying golden orb in his hands.

Timcampy was a small flying golden ball. Saying that would be really general though. Timcampy had four stubby feet and two horns, each at the side of his head. A cross was present on where Timcampy's face would be. Though, a mouth was still there, chewing greedily on Allen's apple. It also had a tail, where a swirl was present on the end of it. Allen had the habit of playing with Timcampy's tail when he was bored and Timcampy found this annoying all the time.

Timcampy belonged to a man named Marian Cross, who was a member of the Grand Council. It had been left here from his last visit in the previous month since Allen took a strong liking to it. Cross reluctantly lent it to him in the end with a little 'convincing', courtesy of Reever, who knew that Allen would start crying his eyes out if the red haired man left with it. But luckily for the golem, it would be meeting its old master soon.

"There you have it. Now, come on, we'll be late." Reever said to the boy. The boy raised his hands to the man and looked at him with big adorable expectant eyes. Reever didn't understand the old gesture for awhile before it came to hit him. "Now, Allen, you're a big boy already-"

Allen cut him off, "Up up!~" He chirped happily.

Reever rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face as he crouched down and lifted the white haired boy into the air and placed him in his arms to carry him. Timcampy was in Allen's hands when Reever started to walk back into the Temple. He passed through numerous halls, all of which were bathed in white decorum and was well furnished with paintings of Saints and Angels. Allen was pretty afraid of those paintings, even up till now. It was scary walking around the place with the feeling you're being followed around with their beady little eyes. Allen dug his face into Reever's chest and tightened his hold on Timcampy, he really didn't like them.

Reever noticed the distress of the boy as he bounced him a bit in his arms, "Hey buddy, you okay?"

"Awen is okay." He said, his words muffled by the cloth of Reever's white robe.

Reever heaved a sigh and patted the boy's back, walking a little bit faster till he reached the end of the Hallways and to the entranceway of the Temple. Rays of sunlight bathed the area as a horse carriage was parked up front. Reever gave his apprentice a little nudge, "Come on Allen, we're out of the hallways already." Reever signaled a few men on his right to place their baggage on the carriage. As they did so, Allen opened one of his gray eyes to look around and chirped up in the moment he saw no paintings in view. Reever ruffled the kid's snow white hair before he climbed onto the carriage. He gave a small signal to the driver and their ride started to move to their destination.

Allen was sitting in front of Reever, peering out of the window as he watched his surroundings zoomed past by him. It was first time going out of the Temple area and he was sure not to miss anything. Wonder and curiosity filled the kid's mind as he looked bounced excitedly in his seat. Despite the happiness of the child, a sorrowful look was present on Reever's face, a look that said that something dear to him was going to be taken away. He clenched his fists, looking at the small child in front of him.

'Do they really have to bring him there? I can take care of him myself. He doesn't need to go away. But it's the higher ups command, I can't disobey them. The others are probably feeling the same way I'm feeling right now.' A plague of thoughts invaded Reever's mind, he was playing with the cuff of his sleeve to calm down, though it didn't really help. As if sensing his distress, Allen turned to the blonde man.

" Weever?" Allen held out his hands to the older man again with big doe eyes; Reever stared at him confused before understanding what the child meant. He reached out to the boy and placed him at his side as he draped a protective arm around him. The boy closed his eyes till he blinked his consciousness away and he fell asleep in Reever's arms, breathing softly as his chest rose and fell. Reever looked at the boy with affectionate eyes that only belonged to a father figure such as him.

"I'm gonna miss you, buddy." He muttered to himself as he let a smile grace his face, moving away the small strands of white hair from the boy's chubby face.

The ride continued in peace, only the sound of the horses' shoes trampling the ground could be heard. Reever felt himself doze off a bit when the Carriage came to a halt with a jolt a few minutes later. Reever raised his hand and pulled the curtains up a bit to see that they were already at the Train station. He glanced at his side to see the sleeping boy, reluctant in waking such a cute child up; he shook Allen's shoulder gently to wake him.

"Hey buddy, come on, we're here already." He said in a soft voice till the boy seemed to stir and open his eyes.

" Fibe mowe minutes." He grumbled as he rubbed his eyes and turns.

Reever chuckles, "Come on now, we'll be late." He tugged on Allen's white and black robes again, this time finally waking up Allen. Allen sat up with a yawn and reached out his hands. Reever complied easily this time and carried Allen in his left arm as he grabbed some of Allen's luggage in his other hand and stepped out of the carriage. Reever gave a nod to the driver,

"I'll be back when I finish helping the boy to his train." He said to the driver, the driver replied with a prompt 'yes sir'. Reever walked into the Train and signed in Allen's baggage, being the Head of the Temple has its perks, since you had the luxury of just going directly in instead of waiting in long lines since you were technically a 'holy' person so you couldn't possibly be possessing dangerous items. Even he himself didn't understand the logic of society sometimes.

Reever walked with Allen in his arms, to make sure the boy wouldn't run and get himself lost. He walked till he reached platform 9 and a train came into view. He checked the ticket twice to make sure this would be the train Allen would ride and entered the vehicle. He walked till he reached the first class cabins and entered one of the compartments. It was quite spacious enough on the inside and when Reever deemed it was enough, he set Allen down on the bench and placed his baggage on the seats in front of him.

He crouched in front of Allen and ruffled the boy's hair, "You know why you're here right, buddy?" He asked the boy.

Allen nodded with a cheeky smile, "Awen is gonna see Uncle Cwoss!" Reever gave him a sad smile and patted the boy's silk robes.

"Yup and you're going to stay with him for awhile, okay? Don't worry, there will be lots of food there and you're going to meet lots of children that would love to be your friend. Oh and there will be lots of toys you can play with." He said encouragingly, but maybe a bit too much since Allen seemed to notice his stiffness despite being a child.

" Weever come too?" He said, looking at the man with big sparkly eyes as he waited for his 'Yes'. Reever almost didn't want to answer the boy's question but he knew it was going to come one way or the other.

Reever shook his head and smiled sadly at the boy, "Sorry Allen. I have to stay here, buddy. But don't worry; I'll make sure to visit you each chance I get."

The boy grabbed onto Reever's robes tightly as he looked at him with a teary eyed expression, "Awen wants Weever to com'." He said with a quivering voice.

"I'm sorry buddy but I can't." the sound of the train whistle caught his attention, he turned to Allen again, "Looks like I have to go now, buddy."

"No! 'on't go!" Allen said, tugging on Reever's robes as hard as he could, but alas he was still a child and his grip was easily removed by Reever as the man hugged the little boy tightly.

"I'm going to miss you, Allen. You better be a good boy there, promise me." He said softly to the boy as he hugged him for the last time in awhile. Allen cried as his father figure hugged him, he hugged him back too, of course.

" Awen pwomises." Allen said, his voice muffled by his cry. Reever squeezed him tight one last time before he let go and planted a soft kiss on Allen's forehead.

"I'll be back before you know it. In the meantime, just enjoy your time there, okay?" Reever looked at him, memorizing each of Allen's features since he knew he wasn't going to see the boy for a long period of time. "Now, come on boy. Smile for me, I doubt Cross would like it if see saw you right now."

Allen nodded quietly this time and just offered a smile that could even melt the heart of a serial killer to the man. Reever ruffled Allen's hair and stood up, "Alright. Someone will fetch you once you get to your destination, so you should be fine." Reever looked to the boy one last time with a smile on his face, "Good bye, buddy. Be safe, okay?" Allen nodded and with this Reever was content enough as he closed the door of the compartment softly and stepped off the train and watched as it headed to the Central city, away from Allen's homey Temple in the North.

"I swear, those 5 idiots better take good care of the children." Reever grumbled to himself.

 

_**South Temple's side** _

 

The sound of crying could be heard throughout the lobby of the Train Station, but it didn't belong to a child. No, it belonged to an 18 year old man who was clinging to the black and white silk robes of a certain 4 year old girl. The man had long dark hair that curled at the end with a white beret on top. He also wore glasses on his pale face and wore a long white silk robe. The man's name was Komui Lee, Head of the South Temple. His victi-, I mean the girl he was holding unto was Lenalee Lee, his apprentice. She had dark green hair that was tied into two short pigtails that only reached her neck. Her chubby little face was red with sadness and a little bit of annoyance at the man tugging on her robes.

"But my precious Lenalee can't go there alone! She's too fragile for a journey like this!" Komui wailed, hanging onto her robes as some of his colleagues were pulling him back.

"It's the higher ups' orders, Komui! We can't do anything about it." One of them said, his name being Johnny.

"Screw what they think! This is my precious Lenalee they're talking about!" Komui exclaimed, tears falling comically from his eyes.

"I thought you already came to terms with this." This time, a man named Jake Russel replied, raising his eyebrow at the man as he gave him a sympathetic look.

"I have but I'm still not ready for this!" Komui retorted, this earned him a collective sigh from his friends in front of him.

" _Dà gēgē_. . ." The little girl in front of them muttered lowly as he looked at his big brother struggling. The men in front of her stopped whatever they were doing and turned their attention towards the girl. She tugged on her brother's sleeve, asking for him to come close.

_Big brother…_

"What is it, my sweetest little Lenalee?" Komui said as he leaned in. Lenalee smiled sweetly and whispered something in her big brother's ear.

If one would listen closely, they would hear and realize that the girl was speaking in Chinese, Mandarin to be exact. Growing up, Lenalee had a hard time learning English and no one really bothered to teach her, since she was just a little kid and all. So they just opted to let the girl speak in her native tongue and letting her learn English when she was older. The people at the South Temple really did love to baby their little girl, especially Komui. Hopefully, the girl wouldn't grow up to be spoiled with all the special treatment she was getting from her 'big brothers.'

Komui nodded as the Lenalee finished off what she wanted to say, "Alright sweetie, I'll calm down." The men behind them really wondered how the little girl managed to calm down their Superior each time; it was like she used a spell or something.

Lenalee nodded and smiled sweetly at him, " _Zhè shìgè hǎo_ …" She muttered in a soft and almost nonexistent voice.

_That's good..._

"Are you sure you can do this? Can you really handle all this?" Komui asked in a worried tone, because deep down, under the layer of the crybaby big brother, he really cared for her safety and he knew this transfer meant security for the Temple heir but it still didn't make the bad feeling in his stomach go away, the feeling that told him his little sister was going to be taken away from him again.

Lenalee remained in silence before nodding gently at what her big brother said. She gave the man a hug which surprised Komui, but he returned it in the end with a tight hold around her.

" _Wǒ huì xiǎngniàn nǐ de…"_ Komui said in his native tongue softly, holding the 4 year old tightly in his arms. The girl smiled warmly at this and rested her head against his.

_I will miss you…_

"Wǒ yě yīyàng." Lenalee replied in a hushed voice.

_Me too._

"Oh shit, I think I'm gonna cry." Jake said as he wiped the waterfalls of tears on his face with his sleeve.

Johnny chuckled, "You already are." His voice sounding a little strained since he'd been weeping too. The touching moment of the two was just too much for them.

When the two siblings were done, the group went ahead and got little Lenalee to her train, making sure her baggage was all in place. Komui made sure his instructions were relayed to the girl. One of them which was about someone fetching them as soon as they arrived in the Central Station, the other about not approaching any strangers with or without candy. Komui gave Lenalee one last hug and a small and gentle kiss to the forehead as the Train whistle sounded. Unfortunately, Johnny and Jake had to pry their Temple Head from the train as Komui went on his tantrums again. But luckily for them, the Train wasn't late on departure and left the Station right on time.

"Those bastards better take good care of my sweet little Lenalee!" Komui's wails of sorrow could be throughout the Train Station.

 

_**West Temple's Side** _

 

The entire library was bathed in silence, only the sound of pages rustling could be heard in the huge area. The library took up a huge part of the West Temple, taking two floors of the East Wing. Every kind of book could be found here, from a simple ordinary cook book to a complicated and detailed history about the world of they lived in. Rare and almost extinct books could also be found here, deep in the catacombs beneath the Library, attracting thieves and avid treasure hunters, which is why this part of the Temple was heavily guarded.

But despite that, even the scary and mighty guards didn't notice the little red head in black and white robes sneaking into the Library.

The little 6 year old's name was Lavi, Lavi Bookman and he was the apprentice to this Temple's current Head. He had red hair and green eyes with a black eye patch on his right eye, he was small like any ordinary 6 year old but Lavi wasn't just any ordinary boy though; he was quite smart for his age. Well, at least smart enough to know that the rumors he was gonna be sent to the Central Temple today was true. But not smart enough to know why, which is why he was here right now, off to research and to find out that reason.

The Old man wouldn't tell him no matter how much prying he tempted, all attempts ended in utter failure. But there was one thing Lavi was good at and that was being studious and resourceful. ' _Every problem has a definite answer and solution'_ , that what was his Temple head told him, even know he can hear his old and rickety voice saying it.

Lavi ran to the nearest bookshelf and grabbed a thick book with red binding which had the words 'The 4 Great Temples and The Central Temple' printed on the cover and started digging out some information. He knew lots of things about this of course. He knew that in the world, there are 4 Temples. Each named after the directions they are in. The North Temple, The South Temple, The East Temple and the one he was currently in, The West Temple. In each Temple, there is a Temple head, he/she is the one that handles everything going on in that part of the region, like a governor one would say, but a Temple Head had much more power than that. The Temple Head was the one that oversaw the events involving 'innocence' in their assigned area, magical God Crystals that bestowed people great power. He/She had the power to do whatever they think is just in the eyes of God. It was a great responsibility. And with this great responsibility, they couldn't just pick some random person to be a Temple Head. No, they had to pick a special child and the Temple Head would raise the child themselves to be the next Temple Head. And when that child has grown up and become the Temple Head, they would pick a child and the process would start all over again.

He sat on one of the big red pillows by the window and started flipping the pages of the book. One dull block of text caught his eye. It was a brief explanation of the ways of the Central Temple.

' _In The Central Temple dwells the Grand Council. These are people who have been chosen by God and have developed their abilities till they reached a high level, different from anyone else who had been chosen._   _They are people with high authority and are thus considered as Superiors to the Four Temples it governs. They are the ones who travel around the world, collecting pieces of the God shard and retrieving people who wield it. They are also the ones who convey and deliver the laws ordered by the Church. Some view them as strict and blood thirsty leaders who wished nothing but the obedience of their laws and gave harsh punishments to those who defied them._

Lavi shivered slightly at this part, getting a little spooked by what he was reading. He shook his head and continued his researching though.

_Some also view them as merciful Angels sent by God above who have been chosen to guide and show them the righteous path away from sin._

Lavi decided he liked the second description more than the first.

_Regarding that, the Grand Council is highly respected by all. The number of members is often defined by the number of people who passed that certain level, some by the righteous acts they have committed upon their life. It is usually the former though. Only a few people in history have gotten in using reasons of the latter._

Lavi stared at the paper and started flipping through the pages in a fast manner, 'Come on! There's got to be more than that!' His 'research' was unfortunately halted when the sound of impatient foot tapping caught his ears. He timidly looked up and saw an old man glowering down at him. Black makeup encircled his eyes, making him look like a Panda and his hair was tied into a high ponytail. He was short, mostly due to his old age and wore pure white silk robes.

Lavi gulped nervously, "H-hey Old man." He gave a nervous wave.

This seemed to tick the old man off as he suddenly grabbed Lavi's ear and started hauling him to the outside of the Library. "You stupid brat, I've been looking everywhere for you and I just find you here, leisurely reading a book as if you don't have a train to catch?"

Lavi winced at the pain, feeling like his ear could fall off any moment when the Old man let go when they were outside the Library, "Geez, don't have to be such a meanie about it, Old man." This earned him another pull to the ear which made him howled in pain a bit in response. "Ow! Stop that!"

The Old man sent another glare to his direction, "I would if you showed proper manners, you stupid brat." The Old man turned around and started walking down the hall, "Now hurry up, we have a train to catch."

"Yeah yeah Old man—"The Old man sent him a sharp look, "I mean Bookman. Sorry." Lavi reluctantly said. He wasn't mad enough to get another pinch to the ear, thank you very much. He ran after Bookman hastily till he slowed down to a walk when he reached his side. The two turned around corners and continued walking in silence till they reached the entrance of the Temple, where a horse carriage was waiting for them.

Bookman opened the door of the Carriage and gestures for the boy to come in, "Come on kid. In you go."

Lavi was a bit hesitant; this would be his first time to venture on the world outside of the West Temple. He had only read about the outside world in the library so it was a bit overwhelming for the boy. Lavi huffed and jumped in the carriage, sitting down and looking outside the window, excited for their chauffeur to start driving the carriage. Bookman heaved a sigh at the childishness showed by the 6 year old and climbed in the ride himself. Bookman tapped the glass where he could see the chauffeur, "Let's get moving now." He said to the driver, who respectfully complied.

The ride was spent in silence, mostly because Lavi was too preoccupied with the surroundings that passed by his window. He could see the bustling market of the town and the numerous people that were walking on the streets. He saw children of his age being pulled around by their mothers, Lavi felt his heart constrict a bit in that moment but he didn't need to worry, He had Bookman, and that was all he needed. Once the boy finally got fed up by the world outside his window, he turned to Bookman, who was reading a book.

"Hey Bookman, is it fun there?" Lavi asked curiously with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Hm?" Bookman looked up from his book and glanced at the red haired boy, "You need not worry; there will also be children from other Temples there." He replied, his eyes still trailing the words of his book as he said so.

"You think so?" Lavi fiddled with his sleeves nervously, "Do you…Do you think they'll like me?" He added quietly, in a voice Bookman almost hadn't heard.

Bookman stared at the little boy in front of him before he heaved an exasperated sigh, "Everyone in the West Temple likes you, and I doubt a few kids your age wouldn't. Now stop pestering me, I'm trying to read." Bookman said, his voice not showing a bit of care as he glanced back at his book but Lavi knew deep inside, Bookman was trying to comfort him in his own way.

Lavi chuckled, "Thanks old man!" He then proceeded to give Bookman a big hug, making his books almost fall to the ground.

Bookman heaved another sigh, "Seriously kid. . ." He remained silent after awhile and ruffled the kid's fiery red hair. Lavi laughed in return at Bookman's reveal of slight affection.

The Horse carriage came to a halt as a small sounding of a bell broke their little moment. Lavi started to jump up and down excitedly.

"We're here! We're here!" Lavi exclaimed as he opened the door of the carriage and jumped out. The Train Station was huge! So many places to explore, so little time.

"Oi brat, don't you dare run around!" Bookman called after as he retrieved Lavi's baggage from the compartment underneath where he was sitting and ran after the small boy.

Sooner or later, they arrived at Lavi's compartment in the train; Bookman was busy arranging Lavi's stuff when he noticed the energetic child became quiet as he sat down on the chair, swinging his feet silently as he looked down.

Bookman called out to the boy, "Hey brat, you alright?" He asked, making sure his concern wasn't that evident in his voice.

Lavi shook his head and remained quiet as he continued to swing his legs. Bookman let out another sigh, he seemed to be doing that a lot today he noticed, and crouched down to be eye's level with the boy.

"What's wrong now, brat? Upset stomach or something?" He asked the boy to which Lavi shook his head and raised it to meet Bookman's gaze.

"I don't want to go Bookman." Lavi said quietly, so unlike the loud boy earlier who was running around the Train Station.

"Well you have to, higher ups' orders." He simply replied.

"But I want to stay with you." Lavi said, his voice dripping with sadness.

Bookman gave out a sigh and ruffled the boy's hair again, "Don't worry; I won't be that far away. I'll visit when I have the time," Bookman was talking to a child, a creature with honest emotions and innocent will. He knew he lacked the experience in taking care of one, but he sure did know he loved the kid like he was his own son. That was the only thing he needed to stand by on. Bookman gave the boy a gentle smile, "Don't be such a crybaby about it, alright?"

Lavi finally nodded this time and gave the old man a long and tight hug, to which Bookman didn't push away and just raised his hand and wrapped it around the kid to hug him back. Sooner or later, he was released from the hug.

"You're such a drama queen." Bookman said which earned a weak punch from the little boy as he chuckled.

"Don't need to tell me that, Old man!" He stuck a tongue out at Bookman as he smiled happily at him after.

"Whatever." The sound of the train whistling caught their attention and Bookman turned to the boy alright, "Looks like that's my cue, someone will be there to pick you up, so be a good boy, okay?" He reminded the boy one last time.

Lavi nodded, "I promise." He gave Bookman one last hug, "Bye Old man."

Bookman ruffled the boy's hair and pulled away from the hug, "Bye brat." He locked the door to the compartment as he exited and made his way to the Train platform as he watched the train leave.

"Those five better know how to take care of a child or I'll go there to fetch him back myself." Bookman muttered beneath his breathe.

 

_**East Temple's Side** _

 

"Shouldn't you be heading towards your Train appointment?" A bald old man with a monocle on his left eye turned to his right to look at the small boy next to him. The seven year old had shoulder length dark blue hair. He wore a black and white silk robe, a sour expression on his face.

"You can't tell me what to do, stupid old man." The boy crossed his arms over his chest, turning away from the Old man who was meditating next to him.

The old man beside him was almost bald if it weren't for the hair at the back side of his head which was tied into a ponytail and the small beard on his chin. He also had diamond shaped tattoos at the top of his bald head and was dressed in white silk robes.

The Old man's name also happened to be Zu Mei Chang, who his great nephew happened to be the Temple Head of this place, Bak Chang. And the little boy right next to him was the apprentice of Bak, the heir to the East Temple named Kanda Yuu. They were all connected in some way.

"Now Kanda no need to be so mean to this old man." Zu Mei said which made Kanda respond with a low growl. The little boy crosses his arms over his tiny little chest.

"Shut up Old man." He said, his voice sounded anything but happy. He was taking second thoughts in why he had gone to the meditation room to hide from the annoying Chinese man in the first place. The old man's company was just as annoying as the blonde man.

"Hiding from Bak then?" Zu Mei asked, this earned a glare from the boy, "Yup, I guess I was right."

Kanda growled, "I'm not hiding from that idiot!"

"Really, last time I checked you weren't the religious type despite your title as the Temple Head's Heir." Zu Mei countered, leaving the boy no room for argument. Kanda merely huffed and turned away from the Old man.

"You know, you're going to have to go no matter what. Even if you keep hiding, Bak will still find you." Zu Mei said, forgetting the fact he was meditating just awhile ago. Well, there was always tomorrow. God just had to forgive his sins this one time for abstaining from his prayers today for the little boy in the room with him.

"Shut up and I'm not hiding! I just want to be away from that annoying guy for awhile." He said, squatting down on the floor with a 'hmph'.

"Kanda Yuu! Stop hiding this instant! We're gonna be late for the train!" A voice called out for him, it was awfully near the Meditating room. Kanda stood up immediately and looked around the room for an escape. He immediately dashed behind the altar and hid beneath the covers. Zu Mei just watched as the child fussed around and took his hiding place.

A blonde man stormed in the room, he was wearing a white silk robe and a small hat on his head. He looked around the room till his eyes rested on Zu Mei.

"Uncle Zu Mei! Have you seen Kanda? I've been looking for that rascal everywhere!" The man dubbed as Bak said, his voice evident of stress and worry. His hives were also starting to act up a bit.

Zu Mei shook his head, "Nope, I haven't seen Yuu." But at the same time, Zu Mei pointed to the altar behind him, giving out silent gestures Kanda was there. The Old man hoped that the little boy would forgive him for this slight moment of treason. Bak nodded at this and approached the Altar quietly before lifting the table cloth up with great speed and grabbing the back of Kanda's collar, the boy resisting as he was lifted up into the air.

"Got you, you little rascal!" Bak exclaimed in a fit of victory.

"Let go of me!" He wriggled in protest as he tried to get away from the man's grip on his robe.

"Nuh uh! We need to get you on that train!" Bak retorted as he put Kanda on the ground, not letting go of his grip on his collar. Bak turned to Zu Mei, "Thanks uncle, we'll be going ahead."

Zu Mei nodded, "Good bye little one, have a safe journey." He waved at the little boy who just stuck his tongue out at the Old man, obviously sour at him for revealing his hiding spot.

Bak literally dragged Kanda out of the room and into the hallways, his grip tight on his collar as he pulled him along. Though he was forced to bring the boy out, Bak didn't actually want Kanda to go. A fierce tug at his heart reminded him of his duties as a Temple Head, but for once, Bak was questioning the decision of the Grand Council.

"Let go of me, you idiot! I can walk by myself!" Kanda angrily exclaimed at the man, struggling in his hold.

"How do I know you won't run off like earlier?" Bak said absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere, centered around on what was going to happen to his apprentice.

"I won't, you freaky old man!" Kanda pulled Bak's hand away from his robes forcibly as he shoved him out of the way. He growled at Bak, who just sighed and scratched the back of his head in annoyance. 'I-I'm not even that old!' Bak thought to himself, but didn't bring himself to say it.

"Fine, just come with me." Bak rolled his eyes at the boy and went ahead of him. He passed through hallways, an irritated Kanda following after him. He turned his head a few times to check if the boy was still following and was not disappointed to see the fuming Kanda behind him. 'I sure will miss the kid's crude attitude, that's for sure.' He thought to himself as he silently chuckled. Kanda raised an eyebrow at this, but he knew better than to ask. Bak was just eccentric and weird sometimes.

They walked together, in a sense, through the corridors in silence, passing a few people on the way who gave the two a few looks. It was cute seeing the Temple head, being followed around by his apprentice. The people of the East Temple had grown used to the two's quarrels and fights, most seeing it as a way for the two to bond. It was almost like a daily activity they had.

The two strolled around till they reached the entrance of the Temple, where a horse carriage was waiting for them. Kanda was not stupid; he knew he was going to be sent to somewhere far away, somewhere completely different from the Temple he grew up in and there was nothing he could do to change that. And he absolutely hated that fact.

Bak went forward and opened the door of the carriage, to which Kanda just stared angrily at. Bak wondered if the boy knew any other emotion. Bak sighed, "You're going to have to enter this carriage someday, Kanda." He tapped his foot impatiently at the floor, waiting for Kanda to comply with his wishes. Kanda hated it when he did that.

Kanda stared daggers at the man before he jumped in the carriage reluctantly. Bak heaved a huff of victory to himself before he went in after Kanda, prideful in finally convincing the irritating boy, giving the driver the signal to drive when he saw that everything was in place.

In the entire travel to the Train Station, Kanda was glaring at the Bak, his gaze was fiercer than usual though. Bak sweated under the tension of the carriage, he scratched the back of his head, knowing it sounded silly that he was being intimidated by a seven year old. "Stop looking at me like that. It's not like I can make the higher ups change their mind or something."

"Find a way." Kanda simply replied, his short answer dripping with venom.

Bak rolled his eyes as he leaned against the wall of the carriage, "You think I didn't? Yuu, you know you can't have everything you want in this world."

Kanda leaned back in his seat, an indignant look on his face as he crossed his little arms over his chest. In a low voice he replied, "Don't call me that, stupid face." He was probably going to run out of fight sooner or later, Bak just told himself to be patient.

Bak sighed silently, giving the boy in front of him a sincere look, "Kanda, I know you won't say it out loud, but don't worry. I'll make sure to check up on you in the Central Temple every now and then." He said.

Kanda stared at him silently before turning his head away with a slight blush on his cheeks, "Who said I needed you to look after me, idiot." Even though he said that, Bak sensed Kanda's anxiousness deflating a little bit. He smiled inwardly at the thought.

The rest of the trip was spent in bathed silence. No one spoke a word. But it wasn't the type of silence that was uncomfortable and awkward; it was the type of silence that was shared in peace and acknowledgement. Such a thing just showed how tightly knitted their bond was, even if the two parties said otherwise. Stupid Tsunderes.

The Horse carriage came a halt after awhile, which signaled their arrival at the Train Station. Bak was the first to go out, Kanda's luggage in tow, before Kanda who took reluctant steps on the pavement. Bak found himself staring in worry at Kanda who was being too quiet, in the end, he found himself ruffling the boy's dark blue locks which earned him an annoyed growl from the boy.

"What was that for?" Kanda exclaimed, shoving the hand off his head as he shot a glare at the older man.

Bak shrugged, "For spacing out, I guess. Come on, your train's going to leave you behind if you keep dawdling there, Kanda." He said before walking towards the Train Station. Kanda muttered a few choice words underneath his breath before following the blonde Temple head.

Again, they didn't talk much on their way there, just a few reminders of 'Don't anger the Grand Council Generals' and 'Don't bully the kids from the other Temples', to which Kanda begrudgingly nodded to, not in the mood to put up with another argument. Bak was a little bit uneasy through it all; he wasn't used to the sight of an obedient Kanda.

They soon reached the Train and walked further in to Kanda's compartment. Bak opened the door for Kanda, expecting him to just walk inside quietly but that did not happen. Kanda just stood there, with a defiant look on his face as he stared at Bak. Bak sighed, he knew it wasn't going to last long.

Bak kneeled down to Kanda's eye level and opened his mouth to give a stern man to man and totally not girly talk about his departure, "Kanda, I—"

They were suddenly interrupted by the sound of explosions nearby; screams of panicking people could already be heard. And judging by the sound of turning gears and the names people were shouting, Bak already knew what it was.

" _Akuma. ._." The words left a bad taste in his mouth. Out of all the times they could possibly come, why now? In reflex, he quickly threw in Kanda's luggage and shoved the boy inside, who was obviously surprised at the blonde man's sudden actions. Bak rose up then turned his head as looked around till he saw one of the Train Staff members coming out of one of the compartments nearby.

He immediately called out to him, "You there! Get this Train prepped and ready for departure! Make sure this Train leaves this station at all costs!" He ordered sternly. The Staff member hesitated for awhile before recognizing Bak's clothes as the Trademark white robes of a Temple Head.

"Y-yes sir!" The man exclaimed before running off to what Bak assumed to be the direction of the Train Operator's room.

"Bak! What's going on?!" Kanda ran to Bak and started pulling on his robes frantically, searching for an explanation on the man.

"It's fine! Just get into your compartment and don't open the door till the coast is clear okay?" Bak said, his hands moving quickly as he pushed Kanda back inside the room and locked the door behind him.

"Oi! Bak! You idiot! Open the door!" Bak could hear Kanda's fist banging against the door. He leans his body into the door, his forehead touching the smooth wood of it.

"I'm sorry Kanda. Please, be safe." Bak whispered beneath his breathe, his heart aching as he traces a magic circle on the door. The markings lighted up a second after, the protective charm done. Bak hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and starts running for the Exit of the Train, away from Kanda's compartment.

The Train starts moving as Bak reaches for the handle of the door, the horns blaring out as the engine started. The door makes a click sound before it opens, Bak could see the station platforms whizzing past him in an increasing speed. Deciding that it was better now than never, he steels his nerves before he jumps off the Train. He lands on his feet, his body pumping with adrenaline as he watches the station ensue in chaos.

There were already exorcists on the scene, but it wasn't enough. There were just too many of them. One of trains in the station had already caught on fire and the agonizing screams of the dying weren't helping either. Bak turns his head to the retreating figure of the train in the distance, muttering short prayers beneath his breathe.

"Those idiots better take good care of them."

 

_**Central Station** _

 

"Che. Why do I have to go fetch those stupid children?"

A man snarled as he blew on his cigarette. The man had bright and long red hair that was spiky at the edges. He was dressed in a black and gold robe, a matching hat on his head. Leaning against the wall, he watches the people whizz past by, some bowing their heads to him in acknowledgement.

Everyone knew him as Cross Marian, one of the strong and mighty Grand Council Generals. With abilities to match with his arrogant personality, Cross wasn't that hard to spot in a crowd. Taking another puff from his cigarette, he glances at his pocket watch. It was a quarter after 3 o' clock; he had been waiting there for 20 minutes already.

Cross clicks his tongue, "Those kids better get here in 5 minutes or I'll leave them behind to fend for themselves."

 


	2. Their Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally have no excuse on why this is late
> 
> ily//shot

 

A knocking sound wakes Allen up from his nap. The little boy rubs the sleepiness from his eyes and sits up, trying to make sense of his new environment. He was in the train compartment Reever had led him into earlier, judging from the cushions and the luggage on the chair in front of him. He remembers falling asleep immediately as soon as the train started moving. It was probably because his crying had tired him out.

It was scary, he didn't know where he was and Reever was nowhere to be found. He was in a completely new place and he didn't even know where to begin with. Someone knocks on his door again, this time with a voice calling out for him.

"Allen, come on. We've arrived at the Central Station already."

Allen pushes himself off the chair as he walks clumsily to the door, twisting the door knob open as he stands on his tip toes. The door opens to reveal a man who was wearing a light brown cloak and had bandages covering half of his face.

Stranger Danger warning bells were going off in Allen's mind. Reever always taught him that strangers were always a bad thing, and that they never brought him any real candy. He must've noticed Allen's internal struggle, because he crouches down to Allen's level and offers him a smile, though all Allen could see was his happy eyes and raised eyebrows.

"It's okay Allen, Reever sent me here to pick you up so that you can meet up with your Uncle Cross safely."

Allen was still a bit hesitant at first, but then suddenly Timcampy comes into play. He flies over Allen's head and stares at the man for awhile before he lands on his shoulder, nodding as if he deemed the man in front of them safe and danger-free.

"See, even Timcampy agrees."

"You fwends with Tim'ampy?" Allen asks, his little doe eyes looking at him.

The man nods, "Yes, I'm his friend. My name's Toma by the way." Allen glances at Timcampy, who stares at him back, before turning back to Toma.

"If Toma fwends with Tim'ampy, than I'm fwends with Toma!" Allen chirps, giving Toma a bright smile.

Toma held back the urge to coo on how cute the child was being as he coughed into his fist to regain his composure. Toma made quick work with Allen's luggage as he picked them up swiftly and called for Allen to follow after him.

Allen complied; Timcampy resting on his head like his white hair was a pillow, as he walked down the corridor with Toma. Allen noticed that there were only a few people in the train, tall figures clad in white robes and veils. Perhaps most of them had already gotten off? They all had tight expressions on their face, so unlike the cheery people from the North Temple. Allen was starting to miss home already.

Toma lead him till they came to the exit of the train. With a bit of help from the older man, Allen got off the train and set his feet on the Station platform. Allen let his curious eyes absorb the sight around him. The Train Station was practically made out of clouds. The walls, the floor and even the ceiling were a bright and pure white. Even the people there wore white robes, making Allen remember the other passengers from the train. Bright light was seeping from the numerous skylights in the ceiling, giving an ethereal atmosphere to the place. It didn't even feel like he was in a Train Station. It was like he was standing in the middle of one of Reever's prayer rooms.

Allen was definitely in a different place entirely.

Allen hears some sort of ominous growling before an unknown figure suddenly jumps at Timcampy and snatches him from Allen's head. The force threw Allen back a bit, making him fall on his butt.

"Eh?" Allen immediately checks the top of his head to see if Timcampy was there, but only utter terror met him when the crown of his head was suddenly void of any golden golem. He looked around and saw a big white cat, which just happened to have a golden tail sticking out of its mouth.

"Tim'ampy!" Allen exclaimed as he got up and started running after the cat, which fled away from the scene of the crime.

"Wait, Allen! Don't—" Toma called out as he ran after the small boy in vain but lost him in the sea of people. You'd think it would be easy finding a 3 year old with white hair. But then again, the station was blanketed with a sea of the cursed color.

Toma sighed to himself, he was in big trouble now.

* * *

Lavi sat quietly on a bench in the Station lobby, taking in the environment around him. He was told to wait there by a member of the Platform staff, and so he did. Lavi would have obediently waited for someone to pick him up, if his stomach just didn't growl at him. Okay, so maybe it wasn't a good idea to skip out on that snack that was offered to him earlier by one of the Train staff members. He was starting to regret his previous actions.

'Curse you past-Lavi.' He thought to himself.

Lavi looked around the place, he was starting to consider the idea of going off and buying something from that small canteen he had passed by earlier. It wouldn't hurt right? It would only take him a few minutes to just head over there and buy a sandwich, of course.

All of his hesitations disappeared when his stomach growled for the umpteenth time.

Lavi hopped off the bench and made his way to the canteen. To get there, he had to enter the platform area again and take a few turns till he reached the said canteen. It's these times where Lavi actually thanks the old Panda for hammering all those lessons on memorization skills into his small head.

Taking a second look at the Platforms and Trains, Lavi notices how 4 Train tracks intersect at the middle of the Train station, forming a cross. Of course, he had ridden the Train that was on west Train track. He didn't pay attention till now, but Lavi realizes that every train in the station was of the color white. Heck, everything in the Train Station was white.

'These people must really love their vibrant colors.' He thinks sarcastically to himself as he reached the canteen.

He digs into the pockets of his robe and brings out a few coins. Bookman had taught him how buying and selling stuff worked of course. He had taught him lots of things despite his young age, just like the other kids in the temple. Everyone in the Temple strived for wisdom and knowledge, every small piece of data was important, no matter how useless it seemed. The West Temple wasn't called the 'Temple of Knowledge' for nothing after all.

"One grilled fish sandwich, please." He tells the attendant as she goes off and comes back in a few minutes with his order. Lavi gave her the money and took the sandwich.

Lavi glances around and notices that the people in the Train Station was starting to increase, after the train from the North Track came to a stop and announced that the people could get off already. 'I should head back. God knows what might happen if I get pushed around by this huge crowd.' He tells himself as he makes his way back to the Station lobby.

As he walks back, Lavi starts unwrapping the foil around his sandwich, letting the sweet aroma drift around him. 'Ah, I sure don't regret leaving my spot now.' Distracted by the delightful smell of his newly bought sandwich, Lavi doesn't notice a small boy running in his direction.

"Ack!" Lavi exclaims as the little boy runs into him, causing him to lose his balance for a bit, but he manages to keep standing, unlike the other boy who fell on the floor, on his butt.

"Woah, you okay there, buddy?" Lavi asks as he inspects the boy closer. He had snow white hair and big doe-like gray eyes, what was peculiar was the red scar that ran through his left eye, a red inverted star just above his eye. Lavi estimated his age to be 3 years old or something like that. Just like him, the small boy was wearing black and silver robes.

"T-Tim'ampy! Bad k-kitty eat him!" The little boy exclaimed, small tears leaking from his eyes. He was pointing to something behind Lavi. Lavi turns his head and sees a big fat cat on one of the tables, which had something gold sticking out from his mouth. Was it a tail or something?

Looking from the weeping child on the floor to the grumbling cat, Lavi heaved a heavy sigh. The kicked puppy look the kid had just made him succumb to helping the kid out. Taking out a slice of fish from his sandwich as he knelt down, he starts baiting the cat.

"Here kitty kitty~" Lavi practically purrs. The cat seemed to stare at him for awhile, as if judging his ridiculous actions before giving in. It starts walking towards him and opens its mouth to eat the fish that was being offered. Acting quickly, Lavi immediately reaches out to grab the golden tail drooping from the cat's mouth, pulling out a round object with wings.

'Huh?'

The cat hisses angrily at him before taking the slice of fish in his hand and running away. Lavi didn't pay much attention to the cat after he made the quick rescue though, he was too busy looking at the thing he was currently holding by the tail.

It was dripping with cat saliva, that's for sure. But it was what was under the cat's saliva that piqued Lavi's curiosity. Round, golden, a Victorian cross engraved on what Lavi assumed to be its face, feathery wings and that golden swirl at the end of his tail. This seemed awfully familiar to the red headed, but before Lavi could make any assumptions, a voice interrupts his trail of thought.

"Tim'ampy!" The little boy next to him chirped happily, looking relieved that whatever he was holding was safe.

As if awakening from a daze, the thing in his hand started to shake itself back into the real world and pulled itself from Lavi's gasp, barreling towards the white haired boy. The small boy didn't mind the cat saliva coating the flying contraption, looking sincerely happy as he hugged the thing. The boy looked up and flashed the brightest smile Lavi had ever seen in his whole life. "T'ank you, Mister!"

Lavi just stares at him for a second, wondering if this was the same boy that was crying horribly with snot dripping all over the place awhile ago, before chuckling, "No problem, and don't call me mister."

The boy tilts his head cutely in a gesture of confusion, "What s'ould Allen call, mister?" He asked, his words cut and crisp from his young and inexperienced mouth.

Lavi asked himself why he was even bothering with this kid, but he couldn't help it. It was boring just waiting for someone to pick him up at the lounge anyway. "Lavi, my name's Lavi." Though the kid had already mentioned his name, Lavi still asked out of habit, "How about you? What's your name?"

"I'm Allen! This is Tim'ampy!" He says, holding out the golden orb towards Lavi.

Getting a quick second look at it, Lavi's suspicions were proven right. The thing that the boy, Allen, was holding was indeed a Golem. Remembering one of Bookman's old lectures, Lavi gave himself a quick review. Golems were devices that were invented with the purpose of communication between the 4 Temples and the Central Temple. Most members of the temple had Golems, since it was like a requirement, but the one that Allen was currently cuddling with was no ordinary golem. Most golems were plain black round orb with an eye in the middle, adorned with bat-like wings. The only person who had a golden golem like that was- -

"'Avi?" Allen interrupts his thoughts yet again. Lavi reminds himself to stop this whole talking-to-yourself-in-your-mind thing. It was getting annoying. Really.

Lavi turns his attention back to Allen, noticing how the boy was practically swimming in cat saliva. How that golem got that drenched in feline saliva, Lavi didn't want to know. Feeling grossed out for him, Lavi opens his mouth, "Hey, maybe we should clean you up? You're a little bit messy right now." He sure didn't want to get yelled at by Allen's parents or whatever for getting him all dirty, that's for sure. He holds out his hand towards Allen.

Allen merely blinks at him before looking down on his robes, as if he had only noticed that he was dripping with cat saliva. He looks up again and flashes a bright smile, "Okay!" He takes Lavi's hand and they walked together to the nearest bathroom.

* * *

Kanda gets off the train, in a slightly more pissed off than usual atmosphere around him. Even the finder that was set to fetch him felt his spine tingle the moment he even came close to Kanda's proximity. Though, the Finder, a young lad named Gozu, could sympathize a bit with the upset child. The boy didn't even get a chance to bid the Eastern Temple head, his only father figure, a proper goodbye. Stuck in a place that was miles away from his beloved home, Gozu could only imagine the storm of emotions inside the child's mind. Oh how cruel could the world be to let this—

A loud grumbling noise interrupts his internal monologue.

"Che, I'm hungry." The boy next to him spouts, an angry frown on his face.

Gozu stares at the boy with an incredulous expression on his face, 'Is that why he's upset? No, it can't be. Surely it was because-"

"Hey you, where's the canteen in this place?"

Interrupted again, Gozu snaps out of it to reply to the child, "H-huh? O-oh, it's over there Master Kanda," Gozu points to the direction of the canteen. "Would you like me to accompany you?"

"No thanks." Kanda puts his tiny little hands into the pockets of his robe.

"B-But, I should—" Gozu stops when Kanda shoots him the fiercest glare he has ever seen from a 7 year old.

"I said I'm going by myself."

Gozu was near to tears, 'Is he for real?'

* * *

Don't be mistaken. Kanda's empty stomach wasn't the only thing that was churning his mood into sour bile. Kanda was confused, and because of that he felt frustrated, aggravated even. Just what in the world happened in the Train Station? Why did Bak shipped him off to this far place? Why didn't he get a chance to properly punch him in the face before saying goodbye?

It was probably his upbringing, but Kanda continued to ask himself these questions unbefitting of a child like him. It was the only thing he could think of to get rid of the small panic and fear creeping in his heart. Crude personality and pride can go to hell, for the first time in his short life, Kanda felt afraid. Not the sort of fear you would get if you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, but the kind of fear that made you feel helpless and useless. Kanda was in a place he knew nothing about, sure he had heard stories about the Central Capital, but actually setting foot in this foreign land was a different thing entirely.

Kanda let out a shaky breath, showing a bit of weakness while he was alone and isolated. He held back the urge to just enter the fetal position and cry till Bak came to fetch him, all haughty and loud. Cause he won't. He would never see Bak again. He wasn't being too negative about it, but he had heard the explosions. He had heard the people screaming, 'Akumas! There are Akumas!" and if he had to be sure of one thing, not everyone got out alive from an Akuma attack. Bak could either be fading ashes on the floor, or on a hospital bed, ready to breathe his last breath.

Kanda bit his lip, feeling small tears leaking out from his eyes. As if angry at himself for even daring to show that he had actually missed the annoying man, he wipes the tears harshly from his face, slapping himself on the cheek a few times. He would rather die than let someone see him like this. Even if he was surrounded by complete strangers, all wearing white robes so unlike the vibrant ones back home.

Shit, he felt like crying again.

In an attempt to scrap whatever manliness he had left, Kanda was about to smack his head against the wall, don't ask him why, before he was interrupted by a child's scream. Letting go of the white wall, he turns his head and tries to track down the source of the noise. In the corner of his eye, he could see a little girl who had her hair styled in pigtails being cornered by a white robed man.

"Come on, little girl. Be a good little lady and come with me, now." The man said with a voice dripping with cheap sweet icing that you could buy off from the street.

The little girl shakes her head, muttering faint foreign words with her voice laced in fear, " _Bù! Liú xià wǒ yīgèrén!"_ She took a few steps backwards, her little hands gripping her black and silver robes tightly.

_No! Leave me alone!_

The man clicked his tongue impatiently, "Don't be a brat, just come here already." He grabs the little girl's arm, pulling on it harshly. The girl started thrashing around immediately the moment he touched her, knocking off her luggage from its orderly pile next to her.

" _Bù! Zhùshǒu! Bàituōle!"_ She had shrieked.

_No! Stop! Please!_

As if by instinct, Kanda quickly dashed towards the two. The man had not noticed Kanda's arrival and the boy quickly used this to his advantage as he shoves his entire body against him, making him let go of the girl, and lands a hard kick on his shin, which causes the man to fall onto the floor. Kanda immediately pulled the little girl behind him, putting him between the girl and her attacker.

When the man had snapped out of his state of shock, he gives a nasty snarl towards the two kids, "Why you little. . .!" Kanda turned his attention the girl immediately, barking out only one thing.

"Run!"

The girl had understood that word for sure as she turned and ran as fast as her small feet could, with Kanda following after her. Kanda turned his head to see that the man had already gotten up and was chasing the two of them.

This was not going to end well.

* * *

"Now isn't that much better?"

Allen shows another bright smile to Lavi, "Yeah!" Patting down his now clean robe, Allen doesn't move when Timcampy situates itself again on top of the boy's head. Lavi had noticed one thing, the two; Allen and Timcampy were definitely close. Even while he was helping Allen wash up, Timcampy would growl at him, for some reason. Had it forgotten that it was him who saved it from feline stomach acid hell?

Lavi also noticed another thing. He and Allen were wearing identical black and silver robes. Sure there was a bit of difference with a few decorative details, but asides from that, Lavi had come up with the conclusion that Allen also came from a Temple, not the Western Temple though. Lavi would definitely remember if there was a white haired child with a red scar in their temple.

He would have continued with his trail of thoughts if he didn't notice that Allen was staring at his face for some reason. Feeling self conscious all of the sudden, Lavi fidgets a bit, "What's wrong, Allen? Is there something on my face?" Maybe he was caught voicing his thoughts out loud again?

Allen nodded and for some reason, his eyes seemed to sparkle, "Is 'Avi a pi'ate?" He asks, pointing at his eye patch.

Lavi stared at him silently for awhile before he laughs all of the sudden, which surprised Allen a bit. That's it? Every second that Lavi spends with this kid, he ends up being surprised by everything that came out of the boy's mouth. Allen wasn't like the other kids back in the Western Temple. And because of that, Lavi felt very interested in this young boy.

"No, I'm not a pirate. I wish I could be one though." He says, wiping a few tears that were leaking out of his eye because of his laughing fit earlier.

Allen tilted his head, a confused expression on his face, "'Avi is weird!" The little boy declares.

Lavi gives Allen a friendly smirk, "At least I wasn't swimming in cat saliva earlier." Allen pouts and pounds his tiny fists weakly against Lavi's chest.

"Mean! 'Avi is mean!" Allen exclaims. Lavi just laughed again before pinching his chubby cheeks.

"Hey, stop that! Didn't your parents ever tell you that it's rude to hit someone?" Lavi scolds, but not too seriously. He didn't mind having a bit fun with this kid.

Allen stops hitting Lavi's chest and sends him another confused look, "Allen doesn't hav' pa'ents. Allen only has Weever!"

Lavi raises an eyebrow, a weaver? What was he talking about? "Huh? What do you mean—"

Lavi was interrupted when the two of them were suddenly thrown of their feet. "Ow! What was that for?" Lavi says, rubbing his sore butt as he opened his eyes to see two kids like them, looks like they weren't the only ones thrown off their feet. One boy who looked like he needed to cut his hair soon, seriously who keeps their hair that long? And a girl who looked like she was ready to burst into tears any moment now. The two kids were wearing the same black and silver robes as Lavi and Allen, albeit with minute differences. Huh, what are the chances?

The boy with the long hair clicked his tongue as he quickly got up and helped the other girl up, "Come on, we need to hurry." He says to her, but the girl just looks even more confused. He pulls her again, "Don't just stand there." He hisses at her.

Not wanting to see the girl be even more distressed, Lavi interjects, "Hey, maybe you should be gentler."

Allen seconds his opinion, "Yeah! Be mowe careful!"

The boy just growls beneath his breath and turns to the two of them, "Look, don't get—"

"Hey! You brats! Get back here!" The four turned their heads to see an angry white robed man running towards them. "You'll regret running from me when I catch you!" Allen instantly clung to Lavi, hiding behind him as he gripped his robes.

"'A-Avi? Who's that?" He asks, his voice shaking.

The long haired boy hesitated a bit before biting his tongue and turns to the three of them, "Quick! Run!" The four of them instantly ran out of panic. They passed through numerous white clad people, most of them were confused why a bunch of kids were running around the Train Station. Lavi quickly ran as fast as he could. When they rounded a corner it was only then he realized that he had nearly forgotten Allen. He turns his head as he notices that the boy was barely keeping up with the others, being the youngest. He grabs Allen's hand tightly to make sure he doesn't fall behind.

"Come on, Allen." He says to the boy.

"Y-yeah." Allen replies, a bit out of breathe.

Lavi raises his eyes to meet the backs of the two strange kids they had bumped into. Just what sort of trouble had they gotten themselves into? Lavi was starting to regret ever leaving his spot in the Station lounge. 'Curse you again, past-Lavi.' He says to no one in particular.

They ran around the Train Station, passing by the different Station platforms as they tried to get rid of the man chasing after them. Why won't the guy just give up?

They entered a random corridor they had found and ran down the hallway, hoping to find some sort of security guard just lounging around.

" _Ó, bù. . ."_ The little girl with them mutters when they reach a dead end.

_Oh no. . ._

The boy with him immediately looked around, hoping to find some door or open window they could slip through. There was none. Only accursed white walls that seemed to mock their situation.

"Oh God, now what?" Lavi says. Allen, who was right next to him, was too busy trying to regain his breath to answer.

All of them froze when they heard approaching footsteps, Lavi and the long haired boy immediately stood in front of their respective companions. The man, who was chasing them earlier, suddenly appears with a smug smile on his face.

"Oh Good, I finally caught you guys." He looks at Lavi and Allen, "And it looks like you brought friends. That's alright, the more the merrier right?"

Lavi felt a sudden swell of courage in him when he felt Allen shake behind him, "Leave us alone!"

The man let out an obnoxious laugh, "Now now, I can't have that. Not after what those two brats did to humiliate me in front of all those people." He says, pointing at the two kids next to them.

The boy just responds with a vicious glare, the girl behind him clung to his robes as she did her best to hide from the man. Allen, who felt bad for the girl who had started crying, reaches out to hold her hand in a gesture of comfort. The girl looked up to stare at Allen, face smeared with tears, and nodded slowly.

"Now, how about you children come here willingly and no one gets hurt?" He says as he approaches them slowly, his eyes glued on them like they were a hunter's prey. Once his body got too close, the boy next to Lavi suddenly spits on his face, a haughty smirk on his face after he did so. Lavi had to give him credit for his perfect aim.

"Why you little . . .!" Just when he was about to go and strangle the boy for revenge, a powerful kick lands itself on his side, sending him to the wall. The children were shocked as they saw him fly across the hallway.

"What the fuck was that?!" The man growls as he tries to stand up but gets stopped by something hard poking his forehead. He looks up; ready to beat up whoever did this to him, but his face blanched the moment he saw a man pointing a gun at him. The worst part wasn't the gun, but the person who was holding it.

"Do you have a problem with these brats?" The man says with a deep voice. The man on the floor wasn't the only stunned, even the kids were too. Their mysterious savior just came out of nowhere, after all! It was like he had appeared out of thin air.

"A-ah, no sir!" He had stuttered out, the intimidating man earlier was gone and what replaced him was a man who looked like he preferred being ran over by a train than be confronted by the man in front of him.

"Then get your miserable ass out of here and scram." He said. Even without a glare, he still looked terrifying. The man took that as his cue and bolted out from the hallway.

Their mysterious rescuer heaves a heavy sigh and turns to the kids, towering over them. "You brats are too much trouble for what your worth."

Lavi could feel his jaw falling on the floor, "G-General Marian Cross?"

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not Chinese, far from it, and I am heavily reliant with Google Translate whenever I write Lenalee. Just saying.
> 
> If no one actually remembers, Gozu is that finder Kanda meets in Episode 33, the one about the witch living in a village. He was such a precious and naïve baby.


	3. Their Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra chapter to make up for the lateness!

Despite being a child, Lavi knew that reality didn't meet up with one's expectations all the time. Still, whenever he heard of the name General Marian Cross before, he always imagined that prim and proper figure of authority, always graceful and calm when interacting with others. That's what the books always said about Generals of the Grand Council, divine and holy were always the keywords they'd keep repeating. So the young heir of the West Temple was quite shocked when this brash yet undeniably cool man suddenly came to their rescue, brandishing a weapon at the top of that.

General Marian Cross had this annoyed expression on his face as he looked at the kids, an eyebrow raised at Lavi particular, "What? You know any other handsome and perfect being on this earth?" Lavi was too caught up in his surprise to answer though, the six year old trying to close his mouth, "Hmph, thought so." The red haired man smirks as he places his gun back into his holster.

"Uncle Cwoss!"

Lavi was even more surprised when Allen had suddenly exclaimed and ran up to the General. The little boy proceeded to hug General Cross's leg. The golden golem that was on Allen's head earlier followed the young boy's lead and found itself a nice spot to rest on the General's shoulder. Lavi felt the blood drain from his face, you didn't just touch a General of the Grand Council so nonchalantly, let alone hug their legs in public! They were important figures of power that demanded respect at every single second of their—

"Nice to see you too, brat." General Cross merely says before he pats Allen's head twice and pulls the little boy away from him by pulling on the collar of his robe gently. Allen had complied quietly with a smile on his face, as if he was used to it. Which was odd to Lavi, to say the least.

Well, at least his earlier suspicions were right, Allen definitely did have General Cross's Golem with him the entire time. He hoped the General couldn't smell the Cat saliva off the communication device. He didn't want that large gun aimed at him at any point in the future.

"General Marian Cross? Who's that supposed to be?" Lavi turned his head to look at the long haired boy, who looked like he was a lot closer to his age compared to the others. He still had a guarded stance in front of the small girl from earlier, though his form did seem less tense compared to earlier.

"What? You don't know who General Marian Cross is, seriously?" Lavi asked the other with a baffled tone in his voice. To which Rapunzel boy just simply shook his head like it was normal to not know that. Even the frail girl behind him shook her head when Lavi shot her a questioning glance. At that moment, Lavi had just wanted to smash his head against the ground. Was he really the only one who knew how important the man in front of them was?

"Awen knows Uncle Cwoss!" Allen chirps, waving his hands in the air excitedly, as if trying to impress the redhead.

"Why do you even—" Lavi was interrupted when the General in front of them let out a frustrated groan and scratched the back of his head lazily. Lavi tried to pull together what little respectable impression he had of the man.

"Okay, this is already getting tiring for me. Where are those damn Finders anyway?" Cross grumbles as he leans against the wall, "You brats should've stuck with them, save me from the trouble of saving your little as—butts." He says, glancing at Allen for a second before he lets his gaze rest on the group of kids in front of him.

As if they were summoned, two Finders suddenly come barreling into the white hallway, their faces streaked with worry and lots of sweat. Lavi could see that the guy with the bandaged face probably needed to change them soon, what with how soaked they were at the moment. The two of them breathed a deep sigh of relief at the sight of the little children.

"Oh, Master Kanda! You're safe, thank goodness!" The Finder with the blond hair runs up to the boy with the long hair, Kanda, immediately, patting the boy down to check for any injuries. Lavi swore he could hear him growling beneath his breath for every second that passed. Even the little girl behind Kanda backed away a bit.

Allen perks up at the sight of the bandaged Finder, raising his tiny little hands to wave at him, "Toma! Toma! Look, Awen made fwends!" He says, pointing to Lavi and the rest of the kids. If running away from a very violent man throughout a large Train Station filled with strangers was Allen's idea of making friends, Lavi didn't comment on it.

The bandaged Finder, Toma as Lavi heard Allen say, speaks this time as he makes his way to the white haired boy, "Allen, please don't run off like that again. I—"He stops when he glances to the side and sees the man who was leaning against the wall, his face paling quickly just like the bad man Cross had literally kicked down earlier.

"G-General Marian Cross! G-Good afternoon sir! No one had informed us that you were picking up the children as well!" At the mention of the man's name, the blond Finder who was fussing over Kanda earlier immediately stood up, all stiff and straight.

Cross clicked his tongue, sending a not very gentle glare at the two Finders, "These brats would have ended up as mincemeat if Yeager didn't force me to come here." He says, pushing himself off the wall and gestured to the two Finders, "I won't even waste my time asking where the hell you two have been while these children were scampering around the Station. Prepare the carriages already, before I make the two of you crawl your way back to the Central Temple."

The two Finders stiffened at the General's threat before they made a quick salute, "Y-Yes sir, we'll be bringing the carriage up front, sir!" Gozu says before the two Finders scramble off to do what they were told.

Lavi's eyebrows furrowed down a bit as pressed his hand against his chin, propped on his other arm. If Allen and Kanda, what a weird name that was, had Finders to pick them up earlier, then where were his and the little girl's? Were there only supposed to be two Finders picking up the four of them or did something happen along the way? Lavi bit down on his lower lip, he hated it when he didn't know the answer to something.

He was dragged out of his thoughts when he something tugs at his robes. Lavi raises his head, not even realizing that he had lowered his head in the first place and glances to the left to see the little girl next to him, apparently feeling safe enough to come out of Kanda's defensive circle.

Lavi was about to ask her what was wrong before she turns to look past him and points at something. He glances to where she was pointing and sees that the General was already walking away, with Allen following after him like a puppy.

"A-Ah, wait up!" He calls out, he hated how overthinking often lead him to be so unresponsive to the things happening around him. The General doesn't even slow down, the jerk. He turns to Kanda and the girl, "Well, guess we should go after them." He says, making awkward hand gestures. Thankfully, the little girl understands and nods with a small smile. Kanda, on the other hand, answers him with a huff and rolls his eyes at him before he walks ahead of them.

The quiet girl next to Lavi shifted uneasily on her feet, fiddling with her hands. Lavi pats her shoulder with a crooked smile on his face, "Hey, uh, let's get going?" He says, gesturing in the direction of the General as the girl stares at him for a few moments or so before simply nodding.

Lavi breathed an internal sigh.

Well then, this was one way of getting a first impression on a new place.

* * *

They later end up sitting all together on a horse carriage on the way to the Central Temple. Lavi had chosen to sit next to Allen who unfortunately decided to plop himself next to General Marian Cross, who in turn had his arm on the windowsill and a palm pressed against the side of his face. He couldn't blame him, even he was bored by the unnerving silence in the carriage.

Lavi shifted on his seat a bit before he coughs into his fist, hoping to get the General's attention, "So, uh, are we all—"He gestures to himself and to the rest of the kids in the small space, "like, you know?" He would like to punch himself at the moment for sounding so inarticulate. But really, how does one speak to a General of the Grand Council?

The General snorted, "Huh, is this what the Western Temple has to offer? So much for being a group of pompous know-it-alls." He says, which earns him a bit of ire from Lavi, "Yeah, all of you brats are Temple heirs. Coming from the different four great Temples or some crap like that." He says dismissively, before turning away from the kids again, like they were wasting his time or something.

"Why the hell were we brought all the way over here?" It was Kanda who spoke up this time, Lavi had figured that it was impossible for this guy to be in any mood that wasn't related to being angry.

The General doesn't answer him, just keeping his gaze on whatever was outside the window. Curse a child's short height, Lavi wanted to see what was locking the General's attention at the moment.

"Hey!" Kanda calls out, this time with a bite more bite in his voice, "I'm talking to you, you stupid old man!"

That got the General's attention this time, an angry glare set on his face, "What did you just call me, you—"

"No! Stowph that! Don't be mean to Uncle Cwoss!" Allen pipes up, joining the conversation as he pouted at Kanda, whose demeanor seemed ruffled a bit when Allen suddenly spoke against him.

"You stay out of this, idiot!" Kanda snaps back, eyebrows furrowing down.

That only riled up Allen even more, "Awen not stupid, you are!"

Lavi sits up a bit straighter, hoping to settle things down before it got out of hand. Kanda looked a bit older than him though, so maybe he knew better than to fall for Allen's—

"What did you say to me, you dumb beansprout?" Kanda growled beneath his breath.

Lavi sighed.

"Hey guys, maybe we should calm down for a moment. We—"

"No!" The two exclaimed at him at the same time, Lavi ending up in the direction of a heated glare and a very upset but cute looking pouty face.

"Er. . ." Lavi helplessly glances between the two of them before he looks over to General Cross, wondering if he could managed to plead for help at the moment but the pearly gates of salvation were closed once more when he saw that Cross had detached himself from the argument and reverted back to that bored expression on his face again.

Thankfully the two boys had reverted back to making snarky comments at each other instead at Lavi. He heaves an exasperated sigh before his eye catches unto the very uncomfortable posture of the little girl next to Kanda and it was only then did Lavi remember that he didn't even know her name.

Her little hands pressed against her lap and her shoulders were all hunched up together, making her look even smaller. She was biting down on her lower lip and had her head lowered as her gaze was stuck on the floor. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Lavi immediately turns to Kanda and Allen and pats their knees before quietly pointing at the girl. The two boys were about to retort, their faces still scrunched up in irritation, before they quieted down, Lavi was quite thankful at that.

Kanda huffed before leaning against the cushions of his seat while Allen had this very sad and regretful look on his face, muttering a quiet 'sowy' in a hushed voice. Lavi almost felt bad for pointing it out to him, he patted his arm instead to at least let the boy know it was okay.

Lavi turns back to the little girl, who still seemed tense. He reaches out to pat the hands that were on her lap. The little girl jolted a bit in surprise before Lavi pulls his hands away and raises them in surrender. She raised her head to look at the other, the bothered expression on her face replaced with a confused one.

Lavi shook his head and leaned forward a bit, "Oh, um, hey. Are you all right?"

She stares at him for a while, her eyebrows scrunched up together in confusion.

Lavi waits a few more seconds to hear her answer and is left awkwardly hanging when the girl didn't reply to his question. He fiddles with his hands a bit, "Err, did you not hear me—"

Lavi was interrupted, again, when he hears someone let out an amused snort. He glances to his side and sees General Cross with a half smirk on his face, "Language barrier, brat. She has blood from an ancient oriental race in the East." He pauses, as if he was trying to remember, "Mandarin, have you heard of that before?" He says before shaking his head and looking out the window again. Lavi swore he was this close to jumping out of the window to see what was the General staring at.

The General at least cleared things up a bit, and it made things somewhat easier for him. Lavi glances back at the little girl, who still looked terribly confused.

Lavi coughs into his fist, hoping that in the next few seconds he wouldn't make a fool of himself again, "Ah, _wǒ jiào_ Lavi. _Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì?"_

_Ah, My name is Lavi. What's your name?_

The girl perks up and smiles the brightest and biggest smile Lavi has seen from her since they had met. Even Kanda and Allen were a bit surprised. She sat up straight this time, and the image of her frailty was whisked away.

"Lenalee! _wǒ jiào_ Lenalee!" She says in a cheery tone as she clapped her hands together, probably happy that she could finally understand someone.

_Lenalee! My name is Lenalee!_

"What did 'Avi say? What did s'e say?" Allen asks at his side, tugging on his robes a bit. There was an adorably confused look on his face that made Lavi pat his head gently.

"I asked her for her name, she said it was Lenalee." He simply says before turning to the girl, Lenalee, and gestures to Kanda and Allen, " _Zhè shì_ Kanda _Hé_ Allen."

_This is Kanda and Allen._

Lenalee nods with a smile on her face before waves at the two boys. Allen waved back enthusiastically while Kanda just tipped his head a bit in acknowledgement before glancing away in disinterest.

"Impressive, brat. Least all of Bookman's teachings weren't just for show." General Cross says at Lavi's side. Lavi knew it was supposed to be a praise but with the General's tone, it sounded more like he was taunting him even more. He was tempted to stick his tongue out at him but he didn't really want that gun pointed at him any sooner.

Allen suddenly pounced Lavi, a very excited expression on his face, "'Avi can s'eak weiwd! I wanna talk wif Lenawee too!" He says, bouncing up and down on his seat.

Lavi couldn't help but laugh as he tried to settle the boy onto his seat again, he didn't want to deal with a crying child if Allen suddenly fell out of his seat, "Okay okay, I'll teach you some words." Lavi pauses to think of something, "Allen, can you say this to Lenalee?" He says with a smile on his face before he whispers the words into Allen's ear.

It takes them a few seconds to work along with the words before Allen turns confidently to Lenalee, who in turn had this very amused expression on her face. Lavi was relieved that she didn't feel so uncomfortable any more.

Allen puffs his small chest in pride before he opens his mouth, "Lenawee! jiàn daw nee hen gaw shìng!" he says with a toothy grin.

_It's nice to meet you!_

Lenalee pursed her lips for a few moments or so after hearing Allen's butchered Mandarin before she simply smiles and nods, " _Nǐ yěshì."_

Allen frowns a bit before he turns to Lavi, who smiles and translates her words for him, "She says it's nice to meet you too."

Allen smiled a big grin at that before turning to stick a tongue out at Kanda, "Awen can say Mandawin stuff now so Kanda is the dumb-dumb and not him!" Lavi winced a bit at that, was there really a need to start up another argument?

Kanda's frowned with his eyebrows all furrowed down, "What the- I wasn't even talking to you even more, you brat." He crossed his arms over his chest, "And being able to speak a single sentence isn't worth anything."

"But Kanda can't speak Mandawin! So Awen is smawter than 'im now!" Allen says in a victorious sounding voice.

"No it doesn't!" Kanda snaps back. Lavi assumed that there was some sort of superiority complex going on between the two here.

"Guys, please—Can we not—" Lavi stops himself when he ends up on the receiving end of two very hateful looks once more. Just what was with this pattern? Lenalee was trying to stifle a giggle in front of him, well at least someone was finding the situation amusing.

Lavi was this close to burying himself into the seat cushions when the Horse Carriage suddenly comes to a stop. All noise in the carriage ceased as General Cross sat up properly and stretched his arms a bit, "Good, looks like we're here. Couldn't stand sitting in the same room with you brats any longer." He says before he unlocks the carriage door and steps outside. It was then that Lavi noticed that the General's gun was in his hand. He quietly thanked the heavens for making them arrive early.

When the General left, the four of them made brief eye contact with one another before they all scrambled to get out of the Horse Carriage.

What greeted them was the sight of a large white temple, definitely bigger than the Temples back in their homeland. It stood quite tall with its intricately detailed Corinthian columns and high raised ceilings. Their carriage had dropped them off right in front of the elevated Temple where the marble white steps glistened in the light of the afternoon sun. At the top of the steps was a colonnade and if Lavi was correct, just past those pillars was the entrance to the Temple.

At the top of the Temple was a large white Pediment, inscribed into the white stone was the Rose Cross, the symbol of the Grand Council and the Central Temple. Lavi had remembered seeing the Rose Cross in the Western Temple's pediment too. That was probably the only thing that was similar between the two Temples.

Lavi wasn't really captured in awe at the sight of the building though. Sure, he was impressed seeing as it was his first time seeing it in person, but after you see the same pictures over and over again in the same old books that you hope Bookman would just let it accumulate dust instead of making it a necessity to memorize every single page of it for the past 6 years of his life, you'd get pretty tired of it.

Lavi glanced around to check his surroundings. The Finders had already begun unloading their baggage from the horse carriage, putting it into a nice pile next to it. Just behind the horse carriage, Lavi could see that the Central Temple was closed off by a rather large gate and fence, guards situated all over the place. The Central Temple is a big deal after all. One couldn't easily get in unless you were a member of the Grand Council, a Temple head or a respected individual with royalty in their blood. But it seemed a bit odd to see this many guards all over the place. It was like they were preparing for something.

"Hey, General Cross, why—" Lavi turns his head to ask the Grand Council General regarding the security when the sight of the man's retreating back makes him stop, "Hey! Where are you going?"

The man doesn't even stop or turn around to answer Lavi, he just continued walking as he raised his hand to them in a farewell, "Don't want to hang around with you brats any longer. 'Sides, he'll be here any minute and I'm not in the mood." He says before the General Cross climbs up the steps and disappears into the colonnade.

"What? Is he serious?" Lavi says before he runs up the steps himself and checks in between the tall columns to see that the man was totally gone from their sights. He sighs before he turns to Allen and the rest. Allen currently had Timcampy in his arms, considering how clingy Allen was to the General, General Cross may have handed Timcampy to him to appease the small child as he went away. Smart move.

Allen was currently in the process of introducing Timcampy to Lenalee, holding up the golden golem in his hands and showing it to Lenalee. Someone should tell the poor boy that repeating 'Nice to meet you' over and over again wasn't going to make any valid conversation between the two of them. Lenalee was still smiling though, probably happy that the young boy was trying.

It was really only him and Kanda who was concerned with their situation at the moment. Kanda clicked his tongue as he buried his hand into his pockets, a very unimpressed expression on his face, "Now what? I'm not going to go in there looking like some stupid ignorant tourist."

Lavi had just shrugged in return.

"Now, none of you children will be acting like, as you say, ignorant tourists in this Temple." A voice says behind Lavi and the young boy with the eye patch turns to see that a new person has come to greet them.

Said new person was an old man with a moustache and long white hair that was held in place by a circlet. He wore the same black and golden robe that General Cross was wearing earlier. He had a calm smile on his face as he regarded the children with a kind expression on his face

Lavi had immediately recognized the man, he was General Kevin Yeagar, the oldest General of the Grand Council. At least this General had the same respectable air that the books gave him. Lavi had turned around and backed away from the older man a bit and tipped his head to show his respect, "General Yeager, sir!" He exclaims in surprise, unable to think of anything else to say.

General Yeager smiled softly at Lavi as he patted his head, "Ah, you are Bookman's boy, aren't you? I've heard so much about you."

Lavi preened at the subtle praise, unable to help the smile that crossed his features. It wasn't often that people praised him after all. General Cross' snarky comment earlier didn't count.

General Yeager then turned to the Finders, giving them a nod of acknowledgement which was returned with bows of respect before he lets his gaze land on the rest of the children present, "Now then, the Finders will be moving your things to your quarters. In the meanwhile, how about I give you children a short tour of the Central Temple?"

* * *

The Central Temple was definitely larger than Allen's home. The walls were a whole lot taller and there were too many hallways and corridors. The nice old man, Uncle Yeager, gave them a tour around the temple, showing them the large and spacious prayer rooms and the lovely garden at the back of the Temple. There were lots of familiar flowers there, they looked like the flowers back at Allen's Temple, as he delightfully pointed it to the Uncle Yeager who patted his head and gave him a warm smile.

They had just finished touring around the library, now walking through a long white hallway. (They had to force Lavi to let go of the bookshelves to actually move on. Allen has never seen a person's eyes sparkle like that before. ) Allen was walking with Lenalee beside her, the two swinging their joined hands together as Timcampy rested on Allen's head for a nap. Kanda was walking right behind them while Lavi was in the front, currently attacking General Yeager with an endless barrage of questions.

"So, with advanced research on the property of innocence, you were able to redirect its energy to be able to store it in charms and trinkets?" Lavi asked, a skip in his step as he got to do a mini 'interview' with the one of the world's wisest and most powerful man.

General Yeager didn't show any objection when the young boy had asked his twenty fourth question since they had met and merely smiled at him, "Quite, but most of the credit goes to the researchers rather than me alone."

"But still! You were the one who guided them along, if it weren't for you they wouldn't have known what to do in the first place." Lavi chirped enthusiastically, his little hands clenched into fists.

General Yeager chuckles at the child's praise, "It is not polite to steal the credit of others, Lavi. Just as I had done my work, they did as well."

Allen didn't really get what they were talking about after that. Something about polly-tics or something like that. He didn't bother with them, adult stuff was boring after all. He turned to look up at Lenalee, who was a few inches taller than him and in return, she gave him a friendly smile. Allen smiled in return, he was happy that the girl was no longer scared or jittery like earlier. It was hard to make new friends if they were nervous all the time. Allen liked Lenalee too cause Timcampy didn't show any resistance when Lenalee had tried to pet him earlier.

Kanda, on the other hand, was a bit too difficult to interact with. The guy was grumpy all the time and didn't really like Allen either. Maybe he had a bit of a fault in it too but Kanda wasn't any better, the big meanie! But he did protect Lenalee earlier from the bad man, so maybe he wasn't a complete jerk.

General Yeager was about to continue his very 'interesting' conversation with Lavi when he suddenly stops in front of a door in the hallway, taking one step back for extra measure, "Ah, pardon me, children. Allow me to check something." He says before he pushes the door a bit and peeks into the room. A smile lit his features before he turns to them, hand still on the door, "What great timing, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to, children."

He pushes the door open and gestures for them to enter first. Lavi had turned to look at them before he nods and grabs Allen's hand to pull him and Lenalee excitedly into the room. Kanda rolled his eyes but followed after them nevertheless.

The room they went into was in a circular shape, like they were inside a clock tower instead of a Temple. The ceiling was very high, almost to the top of the Temple itself. There was a giant Chandelier at the top, candles on its wooden branches to serve as light. Thankfully there were torches all around the room, since it wouldn't have been enough to light up the entire room.

In the middle of the circular room was a sand pit, a short staircase leading down to it. In the middle of the sand pit was a very beautiful woman with a lean, fit figure and long blonde hair. Allen noted the large scar marks on her face, the white discolouration forming a large X shape on her face. On her arms were these bulky golden gauntlets, almost reaching her shoulders. The nameless lady was also wearing a form fitting tank top and black pants, paired with a pair of brown boots.

She seemed distracted by something else till the Allen and the rest came into the room, the woman immediately glancing to the side to look at them, raising an eyebrow in confusion. A bit of clarity donned her mind when she sees General Yeager right behind them, "Ah, Yeager, these are the children from the Temple, then?" She says in a smooth and grace filled voice.

General Yeager nods his head, "They are indeed, Klaud." He turns to the children and gestures to the woman, "Children, this woman is General Klaud Nine, a member of the Grand Council like me."

Allen and the rest stiffly show their respects to the General, though it was Lavi who spoke out, to the relief of the other kids, "It's pleasure to meet you, Miss Klaud." He says politely, fiddling with his robes a bit. Oh, maybe Lavi doesn't know Aunty Klaud as much as he does with Uncle Yeager, Allen thinks to himself, since the other didn't seem too enthusiastic as when he had meet the Uncle Yeager earlier.

Klaud looks at them for a few seconds, humming in acknowledgement to Lavi's greeting, before she slowly approaches them, crouching in front of Allen, glancing at the golden golem that was perched on top of his head.

"This is Cross' boy, isn't it?" She simply asks. Allen practically beams when the woman mentions the General's name.

"Aunty Kwaud knows Uncle Cwoss?" He asks, looking up at the woman in front of him.

Klaud visibly flinches at the word 'Aunty', "Ah, no need to call me that. Miss Klaud or Klaud is just fine." She says, straightening her posture a bit. "And yes, I've been working with your Uncle Cross for a while now." She replies, but it looks like she had wanted to say more before she stopped herself.

"So Uncle Cwoss is Aunty Kwaud's friend?" Allen says, not dropping the 'Aunty' still. It was rude to address adults by their name only after all, Reever said so!

Klaud presses her lips into a line before she sighs, giving into the child, ". . . You could say that." She mutters, not wanting to paint a bad picture for the kid's idol.

She turns to look at the other children, "Kanda Yuu, from the East Temple and Bak's charge. Lenalee Lee, South Temple and Komui's little girl. Lavi Bookman, Bookman's lad from the West Temple. And lastly, Allen Walker from the North Temple, Reever's boy." She says, pointing at each child as she dictates their origins. They already knew who they were though, so perhaps she was just saying it out loud to make a note for herself?

"A bit strange to see all you kids gathered up in one area. Guess there's a first time for everything. " She says before she gets up from crouching position and stands up. Allen could see Lavi's questioning glances at the woman, did she say something wrong?

She turns to General Yeager and gave him a questioning glance, "Now then, why did you bring these kids here?"

General Yeager merely smiled at her, "I thought it would be nice if the children were introduced to you and Lau Jimin. You are the only general in this Temple at the moment after all." He says simply before he glances around, "Speaking of which, where is Lau Jimin?"

Allen and Lenalee tilted their heads together at the mention of the weird name. Allen had glanced to her, hoping she could make sense of the weird words but she just shrugged at him. Allen turned to Kanda, who just sent him a nasty glare and he in turn stuck his tongue at him before he looks to Lavi and sees the boy's eyes widening in realization. Oh, at least he had an idea to what a Lau Jimin was.

General Klaud merely pauses for a moment before she turns her back to them and presses her fingers to her mouth, whistling loudly enough for the sound to echo throughout the room. It only took a few seconds before something jumps off the chandelier and uses the empty torch holders on the walls to scale down and finally find its spot on the General's shoulder.

Looking at it closely, Allen realized that it was a small white monkey, probably the same size as Timcanpy that was perched on her shoulder.

"This is Lau Jimin, kids. Now be nice." She says before she gently picks up the monkey and places it into the palm of her hands, crouching down to their level as the small monkey yipped in her hands.

Allen and the rest of them gathered around the small monkey, even Kanda who tried to look as disinterested as possible but still leaned in a bit to look at the tiny animal. The four children and Lau Jimin made awkward eye contact with each other for a few seconds before one of them finally moved to attempt to touch the animal.

It was Lenalee who raised her hand and made the hesitant movement of trying to pat Lau Jimin. Klaud sighs bit before she moves her hands forward so that the palm of Lenalee's hand brushed against Lau Jimin's head. Lenalee yelped a bit in surprise, but she didn't retract her hand and carefully patted Lau Jimin's soft white fur.

Lau Jimin practically cooed at the girl's gentle touch before it suddenly squeaks and jumps out of Klaud's hand, climbing up Lenalee's arm till it found a nice spot on top of her head. Lavi and Allen laughed at the sight before they mustered up their courage to pat the small monkey too. Lenalee didn't dare move an inch though, afraid that the monkey would fall off of her head if she accidentally tilted her head in the wrong direction.

Lenalee glances at Kanda, who was merely watching them play around with the monkey. She pouts a bit before she reaches to tug on Kanda's robes, not moving from her spot as the other two boys continued to pester the little thing on her head.

Kanda had raised his eyebrow in return to which Lenalee responded by pointing at him then at Lau Jimin. They were quiet for a while as the eye contact didn't break off before Kanda sighs and moves closer to pat Lau Jimin. Lavi and Allen snickered a bit at how easily Lenalee convinced Kanda, which earned them a glare from the long haired boy. They feigned innocence though, trying to pretend that they hadn't just done so, which irked Kanda a bit more but at least the glare fell off his features.

Lavi had then proceeded to tell the rest of them all about Lau Jimin and how the little monkey was General Klaud Nine's partner in battle. Lenalee and Allen had protested at first, since when did such an adorable little monkey become a weapon for battle? But they were swept up by Lavi when he started telling them of stories about General Klaud and Lau Jimin's compatibility in battle and how every opponent cowered at the sight of her. Even Kanda was quietly listening as he patted the small monkey that moved to sit on Lenalee's hands instead.

As the kids were playing with Lau Jimin, General Klaud quietly approached General Yeager, her boots clacking against the marble floor, and stood by his side, an unreadable expression on her face as she looked at the little children, ". . . Are you quite sure about this, Yeager?" She asks in a hushed voice, not removing her gaze from the four children playing oh so innocently with her partner.

General Yeager was quiet for a few moments before he shakes his head, "If we won't do it, who will?"

 


End file.
